Wonderfully Weird

Something happened today that I was not expecting.  A person at my place of employment (who shall remain nameless) stated:  "You're a little weird, Lauren T."

In retrospect, I have been called far worse.  But, this surprising revelation really stung.  Somehow I found the strength to say, "How?"

This person appeared to be at a loss for words.  I suppose he/she thought that I would just laugh it off or walk away with my tail between my legs (figuratively, of course).  All I wanted was an answer.

"Well," he/she stammered.  "You post pictures of dogs with no eyes."

I have no problems being judged as the "crazy dog lady."  To me, each dog is special, much like a human child.  I have no regrets about adopting any of my fur babies.  In fact, most of them would have been euthanized if their respective rescue groups hadn't given them a second chance.

The particular pooch that this person is speaking of is Hope.  She is a double Dapple Dachshund that was born without eyes and is deaf.  However, she does not let these "disabilities" prevent her from living her best life.  She loves to meet new people and dogs.  We are still working on getting her to like the cat.

My husband and I find Hope to be one of the most inspiring dogs that we have ever met.  In just two days, Hope was navigating our house as if she has lived here all of her life.  She even climbs onto chairs by using her front paws to pull her body through the opening between the back and seat cushions.  And even when she runs head first into things, she simply shakes it off and keeps going with her head held high and a smile on her face.

The same is true of our three-legged dog, Penny.  She uses her "stump" to hold onto toys and to "pin down" her brother, Cole, when they play together.  And don't forget that she is able to scale our four foot pet gate.  Penny also loves everything and everybody. 

Just because some of my dogs are not what many people would call "normal" does not mean that they are not worthy of being loved.  Can you imagine the parent of a human child with a disability not loving him or her?  Of course not!  Why should it be any different with fur parents?

While we are on the subject, my husband and I have CHOSEN to be pet parents.  We do not desire to have any human children.  And, quite honestly, we do not owe anyone an explanation as to why.  In addition, I believe that Matt and I take better care of our fur babies than many parents do of their own children.  Our "kids" are the most spoiled on the planet!

The person then managed to squeak out another reason for my "weirdness."  My rubber bracelets.  Everyday, without fail, I ALWAYS wear 5 rubber bracelets on my left arm.  I call this my "cause arm."

Each bracelet represents a specific cause that is important to me.  Allow me to explain.  The green bracelet is for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I wear it to support my 91 year old Grandmother who was diagnosed with Mantel Cell Lymphoma two years ago.  The red bracelet is for the American Diabetes Association.  I wear it to support my Dad who was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes almost two years ago.  The purple bracelet is for the Pancreatic Cancer Network.  I wear this bracelet in honor of a friend of the family who passed away a year ago due to this horrible disease.

The yellow bracelet is for canine cancer.  I lost my very first dog, a Border Collie named Spots, to cancer.  The final bracelet represents my support of "special" dogs.  The "Everything Rosie" bracelet was created to celebrate the very short life of Rosie, a special Chihuahua that was the product of backyard breeding.  The message on the bracelet is "Always Adopt."  I agree wholeheartedly with this campaign.  (Check out www.everythingrosie.com to order your own bracelet and support the cause.)

I choose to wear these bracelets everyday because they are a part of who I am and what I stand for.  The people and animals that these causes represent mean the world to me.  I am proud to show my love and support.

I have known for quite some time that I am "not like everyone else."  I have never had a drop of alcohol in my entire life (except for communion).   I haven't ever tried drugs, smoked a cigarette or committed a crime of any kind, not even a speeding ticket.  I also do not believe in using profanity. It just diminishes the speaker's intelligence.

I am proud of the fact that I am "different."  I love knowing that there is only one person in the world like me.  And I am not afraid to own it.  In a world filled with copycats, I am an original. 

Grueling Grieving

I will never forget the day that my very first pet passed away.  Her name was Precious.  She was the most beautiful Guinea Pig that I had ever seen.  I loved her to the moon and back.

My parents and I went out on a Saturday evening.  As usual, I had fallen asleep on the ride home.  When we arrived, my mom went inside first while I was still in the car with dad.  All of a sudden, she came racing back to the car and told dad that he needed to come inside quickly.

Precious had passed away while we were gone.  We didn't even know that she was sick.  And maybe she wasn't.  She was quite old for a Guinea Pig.  Still, I was beyond upset.  I couldn't understand why she had passed.  And I did even get to say goodbye.

Thankfully, we still had Spots, our Border Collie.  But, his passing was even more traumatic than Precious' had been.  We discovered too late that he had a form of canine leukemia.  He passed the very same day that we took him to the vet.

My dad became very angry with me and my mom when we spoke of getting another dog four months later.  Dad was outraged.  How could we be over Spots' passing?  Why were we trying to replace him?  The pain of losing Spots had crippled dad's desire to save another pet's life.

Matt and I watched Hallmark's "A Dog Named Christmas" movie yesterday and it dealt with the exact same issue.  Todd's father did not want the family to get a dog because he was still grieving for two dogs that he had lost earlier in his life.  I have found that many people feel this way.

One of my former bosses lost a dog and refused to ever get another one.  Similarly, one of my current co-workers lost her beloved pooch two years ago and she still cannot bare to even look at other dogs.  Both women just kept saying, "I can't go through that again."

No one understands pet grief more than I do.  But, people should not let their grief hold them back from loving again. When we adopted Theo, we were not trying to replace Spots.  And we certainly were not "over" his passing.  However,  mom and I had dealt with our grief.  We understood that Spots had given us the best years of his life and that we had done everything we could to save him.  We also knew that Spots would want us to help other animals in the same way that we helped him. 

What we saw was an opportunity to save another animal's life.  And in adopting Theo, we did just that.  He was moments away from being euthanized due to his "vicious; unadoptable" label.  At first, dad wanted nothing to do with Theo.  He wouldn't even look in the dog's direction.  But, slowly, Theo won dad over with the respect that he had for his master.  All dad had to do was a point a finger at Theo and he would instantly drop to the ground and roll over on his back in an "I surrender," pose.  Dad simply adores Theo now and always tells me that he can come "back home" for visits.

While it sounds cold to say, loss is a part of life.  Of course I wish that everyone's pets could live forever.  That would be fantastic!  And it is truly gut wrenching when they cross the Rainbow Bridge. But, if we let loss hold us back, we aren't truly living our best life.  We should not look at loss as an excuse to close ourselves off from the world.

And we certainly should never let loss make us not want to love.  In fact, pet loss provides us with an opportunity to share our love with another animal.  Of course, I am not suggesting that you run out to a shelter the day after your pet has passed to adopt another one.  What I am saying is that it is okay to grieve.  In fact, we need to.  But, don't let your grief become debilitating.

When you feel ready to re-introduce yourself to animals, perhaps you could begin by volunteering at an animal shelter.  You would be providing a much needed service in helping to socialize the animals as well as keep them clean and well fed.  Plus, you would be able to give these animals the love that they have been deprived of all of their lives without rushing yourself through the grieving process.

Perfectly healthy and loving animals are euthanized at shelters all across the nation every day. These creatures would (literally) jump at the chance to be a part of a loving home.  And when you adopt an animal from a local shelter, you save not one life, but two:  the animal that you adopted and the one that can now be rescued in your animal's place.

Watching our fur babies cross the Rainbow Bridge is never easy.  But, we must always remember the most important lesson that our pets teach us:  Always love unconditionally and never stop.